Out-Takes
by Raeinspace
Summary: As promised, a few one-shots and multi-chapter ideas left out from the Accidental Curse story. Enjoy.
1. Peace Offering

**Disclaimer: I don't own Once Upon a Time or it's characters, etc.**

**A/N: A mixture of moments/ideas I wanted to put in the Accidental Curse story. Short chapters, some link to others, some are just stand-alones. Enjoy.**

Emma stood on Regina's doorstep holding the plastic buckets and spades. She figured that the other woman would have to forgive her if she brought her a present and she wasn't sure what sort of flowers Regina would like. Regina opened the front door and Emma quickly held out the peace offering before she could close it again or starting yelling at her.

"What is this?" Regina examined them, without taking them from Emma as though the bright red and blue plastic might suddenly attack her.

"Um, buckets and spades. For, you know, the beach? To build sandcastles and dig out shells."

"I'm aware of their function, Miss Swan. I took Henry to the beach when he was younger and let him mess about in the sand."

"I bet you didn't join in."

"Correct. I watched him play and ensured he had enough suntan cream to stop him from burning. He was allowed to paddle at the shallow end of the water and Graham would go with him to make sure he didn't go out too far."

"So you never built a sandcastle?"

"Of course not."

"I guess you never had these back in the Enchanted Forest, either." Emma waved the buckets and spades at her.

"So why do you have them now?"

"I wanted to apologise. I figured you'd never had something like this as a child and you might like to try it while everyone's asleep."

When Regina still didn't take them, Emma realised she would have to try harder.

"Look, they're a present. For you. Also, I wanted to practice in case one day Henry asks to go to the beach and build sandcastles. I thought you might like to join me and we could have a competition to see who can build the best one."

"A competition? What would we have for a prize?"

Emma grinned at her and quickly agreed to Regina's suggestion.

"I usually pack a picnic for Henry when we go to the beach. If you want I can make some sandwiches and snacks to take with us."

"I'll pack the lunch, you just go and get changed."

"Changed?"

Emma looked at the smart suit Regina was wearing. "Yes. Unless you want your nice clothes ruined by the sand?"

"I'll sit on the beach mat."

"Regina…" An idea suddenly occurred to Emma. "Don't you have any casual clothes?"

Regina lifted her chin at the idea. "Queen's do not have casual clothes, at least the type you mean."

"Really? So you've never worn jeans?"

Regina shuddered. "I saw the fashion magazines over the last few decades. Faded jeans, patches on jeans, jeans with holes in them…. I would rather wear my clothes and replace them if they become ruined."

"I dare you to come with me and try some on."

"Dare? Really?"

"Scared of a little denim?"

Regina's eyes flashed in anger. "What a pathetic attempt a reverse psychology, Miss. Swan."

"One pair. My choice. Then we can go to the beach."

"If…." Regina bit her bottom lip as she considered her options. "If you let me pick out something for you to try as well."

Emma held out her hand. "Deal."

Regina just smiled, picturing Emma wearing a smart, sophisticated dress. Perhaps she could sneak a picture on her mobile phone.


	2. Blue Jeans

**AN: Posting two short chapters while I finish the "Last Day" one.**

The shopping trip had taken longer than either of them had expected. Emma had tried to ignore the fact that Regina was using the skeleton keys to open the shops and focused on trying to find exactly what she wanted.

Regina enjoyed searching through the jeans until she found a tight-fitting dark blue pair, that she conceded, looked very smart. That was after Emma made her try on a less flattering style with rips at the knees. Regina opened the changing room door for three seconds, just to prove that she had tried them on, and quickly closed it again. She made Emma try on a large floppy hat, warning her that it would be windy and her hair might get messed. It was sweet that she hadn't realised the town hadn't suffered from any kind of weather since the curse began, not even rain. The sun was visible and the air still warm, but there hadn't been even the slightest breeze. Emma made her promise to wear a hat as well and Regina found a silk scarf and large sunglasses as she browsed the store.

"Nearly finished." Emma told her, now wearing the new beachwear and leaving a note on the till with the amount she owed for the items.

"What's that behind you?" Regina asked.

She was wearing her new jeans with a red blouse, her sunglasses propped up on her head. Emma smiled.

"Present for you. To complete your new look."

"You don't have to buy me anything, Miss Swan. I have everything I need."

"Come on. Just try it on, it's the last thing. I promise." Emma held up the t-shirt so that Regina could see it.

Regina raised an eyebrow.

"You said you like apples." Emma reminded her. "And New York is called the Big Apple."

"I can see the writing and the picture."

"Great. Now, go change and we can head to the beach."

Regina took the t-shirt without further comment. What was one more piece of casual clothing? And the t-shirt could have been worse.


	3. Sandcastles

Regina added more water to the bucket filled with sand, watching as it soaked into the golden grains. Then, taking a deep breath, she tipped it upside-down and pressed it firmly down. Taking a tip from years of watching Henry, she tapped the now-top of the bucket with her spade to loosen the sandcastle within. Gently, she lifted the bucket, hoping for a perfect sandcastle to appear.

As with all her previous attempts, the sand simply collapsed refusing to take the bucket's form. She glared over at Emma's neat row of sandcastles, which the Sheriff was attempting to decorate with shells. Enough was enough. Checking that Emma was occupied, Regina gathered magic to her hands and forced the sand to take the shape she commanded. A small breeze gathered as she collected shells from further along the shore and pulled them towards her. She finished decorating her sandcastle with a small smirk of approval, wondering whether it would be overdoing it to dig a moat around and then down towards the sea.

Regina glanced over at Emma.

"That's cheating." Emma told her, having been watching since the wind first disturbed the loose sand near to her.

"That's magic." Regina corrected her, as she twisted her fingers and created small turrets on the towers.

"It's not fair… Can you show me how to do it?"

Regina laughed. "No. Anyway, you don't want to learn magic."

"Because Henry thinks it turned you evil?"

"It can be a dangerous road for some people."

"The Blue Fairy uses magic."

"She's a fairy." Regina reminded her, secretly scared of Emma having magic.

"Come on, just enough to make sandcastles?"

Regina waved her hand at her creation, causing it to collapse. "There. Now we're even."

She picked up the spade again and began to trace an outline in the sand.

"What are you doing?"

"Clearly I can't make sandcastles so I'm going to try something Henry and his friends made once."

"A surfboard?"

"No." Regina huffed, rubbing out one of the lines with her foot and re-drawing it. "A boat. You dig out the insides, leaving a section to sit on across the middle, then dig around the boat and down to the sea so that it fills the outside with water. When you sit in the boat with the water around you its supposed to feel like being at sea – without getting seasick or nearly drowning."

Emma gazed at it thoughtfully for a little while. "If you make it a little bigger, with three rows for seats, we could put the picnic on the middle one like a table."

So saying, she abandoned her sandcastles and walked over to help Regina.

"That's if you don't mind? It's your boat."

"You can start digging a trench down to the water. It needs to be deep enough for the sea to flow up towards us." Regina smiled. "Be careful not to get your feet wet, the sea might be a little chilly this time of year."


	4. The Last Day

Regina filled the shopping basket with fireworks as she finished browsing the store and used her magic to activate the till. She swiped her card through the reader then re-locked the till before leaving. This was it. The last day.

She was a little scared. If she failed to destroy the mirror or couldn't undo the curse she would be all alone. She knew she couldn't let Emma wake until she had succeeded. Of course, if she completely failed, the mirror might stop her from ever being able to wake Emma.

"Focus on the positives." She told herself, trying to shake off the dark thoughts. "Today… Today you and Emma have a chance to do anything you want and no-one will ever know."

She had told Emma she wanted to have fireworks. She always allowed Henry to go to the Storybrooke annual fireworks show, usually with another family from his school or with Graham, while she went to the office to work. There was something about the fireworks that reminded her of the crackling, lightning-spark magic her mother had used and she refused to attend. Now though, she wanted to see what she had been missing. As fireworks weren't at their most effective until it was dark, they had several hours to spend as they liked. Emma had come up with a few suggestions as well.

At the end of the day, Regina was exhausted. They retired to the diner for a final dinner, sharing the cooking and tossing the plates into the dishwasher.

"Just wait until Ruby sees it!" Emma crowed. "I'll bring Henry here for breakfast first thing… Perhaps you could join us?"

"As long as you explain that _you_fixed it."

"I couldn't have done it without you. You can tell Henry all about it."

"Including your first attempts at cooking eggs?"

"Well, maybe we'll just remember the good stuff. Speaking of …what are you doing with the evil mirror?"

Regina switched the dishwasher on, careful not to let Emma see her face. "Don't worry, I'm taking care of it."

"It's too early for the fireworks yet. Do you want to go and get a drink?"

"My place or yours?"

"Neither. For the last day of our little imprisonment I think we should celebrate at the bar."

"The Rabbit Hole?"

Regina had been there once, at the beginning of the curse. She had been curious, wanting to see if it was anything like the taverns she had visited after perfecting her magical disguise. It was and it wasn't.

"It's not bad for a bar. There's a pool table, or we could play darts…." Emma suddenly grinned as she remembered. "…How do you feel about karaoke?"

A _lot_ of cider later, and a few alcoholic drinks Emma expertly mixed with apple juice, and Regina was standing on the small stage in front of a microphone. She didn't know most of the songs listed, so Emma stood next to her singing the first verse to teach her the tune. Emma was laughing as she sang, getting into the song and swaying to the music. As she nudged the microphone closer to Regina, the ex-mayor looked around for a way down from the stage. Seeing the look of panic on her face, Emma grabbed her arm and slid her other hand under Regina's elbow so their arms were linked.

"There's gotta be one song you know." She told Regina. "You just have to let go and sing. No-one can hear you, no-one cares if you forget half the words and don't look at the lyrics on the screen. Karaoke is just about having fun and letting out your emotions into the words."

"You sound like you've done this before."

"Of course. Sometimes singing is just as much fun battling a bounty to the ground and getting them back to face whatever bail they skipped out on. You just put the same sort of energy into singing as you would… the same as you would to horse riding." Emma quickly amended what she had been about to say. "Take another drink and come look through the song list. Just one song, then we can go watch the fireworks."

Regina knew she needed the night to end with Emma trusting her so that she could get close enough to enact the sleeping spell.

"Very well, but not on that machine. I refuse to act like…that." She waved her hand and a piano appeared. "I will sing one song, a very short song, from back in our world."

She released her arm from Emma's and sat her down on the chair at the piano.

"Can you play?" Emma asked.

"Of course. Musical talent is something encouraged among noble families." Regina ran her hands along the keys and smiled at the perfect sounds. "Now, just listen because this is the only time you will _ever_ hear me sing."

It had a haunting melody. Emma tried to follow the words but she was too busy turning her head between the way Regina's fingers played across the piano and her face as she sang, to pay it complete attention. She had goosebumps along her arms when Regina's hands came to rest in their final position.

"There." Regina sighed in satisfaction at completing the task. "Please don't say anything. Let's just go and light the fireworks."

Emma didn't want to speak, she didn't want to spoil the moment with words, so she just nodded. She wanted to tell Regina exactly what she was thinking, but when she tried she couldn't find the words.

**AN: So, what do you think? I know, there's a couple of hours between buying fireworks and the karaoke, maybe I'll write something for that later. Still have a couple of ideas I want to write out for other days first.**


	5. The Sleepover

**AN: Set after chapter 32.**

"One night." Regina held up a finger to indicate the number.

Emma just nodded, tears in her eyes. Regina moved her back to the kitchen counter, out of the way, and turned back to the rest of the room trying to concentrate. Eventually the area filled with clouds of magical smoke and when it disappeared all of Mary Margaret's furniture went with it. One at a time, Regina brought items from her own room across into the empty space. Bookshelves, a small table with a lamp, until finally her bed appeared.

"I was going to offer you my room and I'd take the couch." Emma told her.

"I prefer my own things."

"Thank you."

"I will be setting up a wall around my space. You may knock if you need anything and I will hear you. The wall will not allow you in until I relax the magic."

"I understand."

"First thing in the morning I will be returning home and you can have your furniture back then."

"Don't you want to stay for breakfast?"

Regina raised an eyebrow. "I'm doing this for Henry's sake. I don't expect us to become friends or anything."

"You have breakfast at the diner with me all the time."

"It's neutral ground. This is too close to…" Regina ground her teeth together before continuing with a forced smile. "…your parents."

"You got rid of the tv. Was that necessary?"

"I assumed it was late enough that you'd be going straight to sleep."

"Only people over seventy go to bed at this hour."

"Well I'm not quite there yet, but I am over twice your age."

"Sorry, I keep forgetting the curse and you don't look it."

"Nevertheless, I like to think that an early night leads to a productive next day so…"

"What about another drink?"

"I think you have already had more than enough. If you're not careful I might think it has become a problem and have to refer you to the cricket. We can't have an alcoholic sheriff in town."

"You'd like that, wouldn't you? Then you could use it against me to get Henry back."

"I was thinking about the fact that you carry a gun. Alcohol and firearms do not mix."

"Aren't Evil Queen's bullet proof?"

"Ex-Queen, Miss. Swan and I'm sure I could muster some magic to stop the bullet if I saw you pointing a gun at me. Do I need to worry about that?"

"No."

"Good. Now, I suggest that you pour yourself some warm milk, or a hot chocolate if you insist, and then try and get some sleep."

"You're too bossy sometimes."

"I'm a mother, dear."

"You do realise that you're not _my_ mother?"

Regina smiled at the idea. "I am Henry's mother though."

"Whatever. I'm going to my room. I can watch dvds on my laptop and go to sleep when I'm tired."

Emma started to climb the stairs and Regina watched her go. At the top of the stairs, Emma turned back around and spoke in a quieter, politer tone.

"You're still staying, right?"

Regina raised her arms to create the wall she had mentioned. "I said I would, didn't I?"

Emma watched as Regina's furniture vanished behind the magic wall. Satisfied, and a little relieved, she continued on into her room.


	6. Nurse Regina

She had managed to stop the blood and partially seal the wound but her magic was drained too low to do more. Regina sat on the edge of Emma's bed, holding a thermometer in her mouth to try and check her temperature.

"You can be so stupid sometimes!" She told the other woman, trying to keep her voice low.

Emma was slipping in and out of consciousness and Regina didn't really want to say the words out loud but her actions infuriated her. She was panicking at the idea the wound might become infected and wishing she had taken more than just the basic first aid course offered at the hospital. Not that the course would have covered injuries sustained from magical artefacts. She had poured a few spoonfuls of syrupy medicine down Emma's throat in anticipation of a fever and now all she could do was wait.

Her jacket was abandoned on the floor, screwed up and covered in Emma's blood from her initial attempts to staunch the wound. She had brought them to Mary Margaret's apartment before trying to heal Emma with magic, knowing Emma would feel more comfortable at home rather than the hospital.

Emma twisted her head and the thermometer fell onto the pillow as Regina moved to stop her from turning over.

"You have to lie still." She explained as Emma's eyes fluttered open. "My magic's acting like stitches but they aren't strong enough to hold if you keep moving."

She picked up the thermometer and tried to place it back in Emma's mouth, but Emma's eyes stayed open and she tried to speak.

Regina placed a finger gently against Emma's lips. "Shh. Just try to get some rest. It's going to take a long time to heal the wound and my magic's not up to it yet."

Emma nodded and Regina removed her finger.

"Does this mean you're staying here?" Emma asked before Regina could stop her.

Regina's shoulders slumped as she heard Emma's words. "I don't think I should leave you alone like this, but I can go if you want and come back in the morning. I don't want to move you to the hospital now… even if I could."

"No, I meant in this room." She winced in pain as she tried to move. "I need you to stay here, obviously."

Regina turned away quickly, pretending to look at the medicines she had set out on the drawers behind them. "I can't use my magic to bring my things here, but if you had still been out, I planned on sleeping in the chair. Just in case."

"Good." Emma closed her eyes. "Or you can sleep in the bed. There's plenty of room."

"I don't want to risk knocking your wound in the middle of the night. The chair will be fine."

"What if I roll over and fall out of the bed? That's going to be worse, right?"

"How often does that happen?"

"Well, I'm ill. It might."

"I'll put the back of the chair against the bed then. Unless you'd prefer cushions on the floor?"

"I'd prefer knowing I'm not alone when I wake up with major injuries."

"Then you need to re-think your attitude to your safety."

"That's not fair…"

"Clearly you are feeling better."

Emma closed her mouth and pressed her lips tightly together before looking down at the wound. Regina's eyes softened at the memory of Henry's various illnesses when she would try to take care of him. He used to love being taken care of when he was really ill but by the time he was on the mend again he had begun to hate the constant attention. "Mothering" he had called it, as though it was something bad.

"I want to take care of you and help you get better as quickly as possible, but I'm tired and we both need to get some sleep." Regina told her.

Emma patted the empty bed space next to her. "You'll sleep better on a bed. If you're well rested you'll be able to take better care of me."

"And make breakfast in the morning? You do realise I'm only making healthy food while you're ill?"

The face Emma pulled at those words was so similar to Henry that Regina couldn't help herself.

"That doesn't work when Henry tries it." She sighed and looked down at the bedding. "What sort of material is this?"

"Good enough for a Queen. Now, stop arguing. I'm supposed to be sleeping and I can't sleep until I know my helpful nurse is in reaching distance if I wake up needing her."

Regina shook her head at being called a nurse, then slipped off her shoes and climbed onto the bed, making sure that she kept to the furthest edge away from Emma. She lay still on top of the blankets and stared up at the ceiling. The second Emma fell asleep she would move back to the chair.

Regina yawned and closed her eyes. _Just for a second_, she told herself, listening to Emma's steady breathing.


	7. Healing & Recovery

Regina was sitting in the chair when Emma woke up, an open book facedown in her lap. Her head was tilted forward and her eyes were closed as she slept. Emma frowned. She remembered Regina falling asleep beside her on the bed, and when she had woken up in the middle of the night Regina had still been there. Why had she bothered to move to the chair if she was only going to fall asleep again?

Her injury still hurt, but she didn't want to wake Regina if she was still sleeping. She could see a packet of pain relief tablets next to the bed, she recognised them from Mary Margaret's bathroom cabinet. They didn't seem too far away. She used her hands to manoeuvre herself across the bed as quietly as she could, away from the side where Regina had been sleeping, and reached out towards the drawers.

She swore as pain raced down her wound at the movement and watched Regina wake up.

"What were you trying to do this time?" Regina asked her.

"Nothing."

Regina's eyes flicked to the drawers. "If you're in pain you should have called me and I would have passed them to you."

"If you were still sleeping on the bed I could have just nudged you awake."

"You started thrashing about in the middle of the night and your temperature spiked. I woke up and gave you some more medicine, but being hit on the head once was more than enough. I couldn't get back to sleep and felt like reading."

"I don't remember that. What were you reading?"

"Nothing, just a book." Regina lifted her hand and the book vanished in a puff of purple smoke.

"Magic fully re-charged?"

"Yes. I think I should try to heal you before you attempt to eat breakfast. Magic can sometimes upset the stomach and if you start to feel nauseous tell me and we'll take a break."

Regina stood up and walked over to the bed to examine the wound. It didn't look any different from the night before.

"Shouldn't you eat something first? To build up your strength?"

"I'll be fine. Let's just get this over with."

Regina moved her hands over Emma, her eyes emitting a soft glow as she used magic. Emma tried to breathe slowly, as Regina had told her to do, but she kept forgetting as she watched the wound slowly start to heal. It was complicated work, due to the cause of the injury being magical, so she had to be patient. Regina was also trying to keep Emma from feeling any pain as she worked, but it put a strain on her magic. Emma's eyes wandered to the clock and back to Regina, watching to see just how long it would take.

A long time later and Regina felt her magic cut out. She looked down and was pleased to see only a small shadowy mark where the wound had been. It would heal without scarring now, so her job was over. She yawned and stretched out her arms watching Emma watching her.

"Good as new. Try not to…" She yawned a second time. "…do it again."

"Wow, that's really amazing. Thank you. If you're feeling tired you can lie down and I'll make lunch."

Regina shook her head. "Breakfast first."

"But it's nearly midday." Emma pointed to the clock. "And you're obviously exhausted from healing me. I insist."

"Maybe you're right. I am feeling tired. I'll just head home now that you're better and get some sleep there."

"Don't you dare! What if you're too tired and accidentally teleport somewhere you don't mean to?"

"I just want my bed, with my sheets…" Regina yawned.

"That's it. I can't let you leave. You look like you're about ready to pass out from exhaustion. I'm the Sheriff and I say it's too dangerous. You've been my doctor, now let me be yours. I'm prescribing sleep. Here."

"You're being ridiculous again."

"I'm not. Now, lie down and I'll wake you in two hours with lunch."

"Two hours?"

"Promise."

Regina opened her eyes. As promised there was a bowl of soup and two thick slices of bread on the set of drawers. Emma had folder the quilt over her as she slept, to keep her warm. Regina sat up and held out her hands, using her magic to draw them towards her.

As they settled on the blanket she reached out to lift the bowl, surprised when it was cold. She nudged the top of the soup with the spoon and wrinkled her nose as a thin layer was dislodged. She looked around for the clock and frowned as she read the time.

"Two hours?" She asked the empty room. "Why did I think I could trust her?"

At that moment Emma entered. She looked surprised to find Regina awake and with the lunch in front of her.

"Oh, uh…" She stumbled over the words. "I wouldn't try to eat that if I were you."

"Too late."

"I was coming to wake you. I just thought you deserved longer than two hours sleep after everything…"

"Emma, it's half past 5."

"I've started dinner. Don't panic, it's just some of the frozen meals I pinched from the diner when you weren't looking. I kept them here as back-up, just in case, you know…"

"In case you burnt the diner down?"

"In case we fell out and you wouldn't cook me any more of the lasagne." Emma corrected her. "I really liked it."

"How long have you been cooking it for?"

"Oh I'm just going to toss it in the microwave now that you're awake. I've been putting some salad stuff together, I know you like it… what?"

"You are not mircrowaving it." Regina told her. "You will heat it in the oven at the temperature I show you and I will oversee the cooking."

"I managed to cook the soup, didn't I?"

Regina passed Emma the lunch items. "I don't want to know how long these were in here."


	8. Staystory time

"I think you should stay again tonight." Emma told her as she washed the dishes and Regina dried them.

"You're fully healed."

"What if you're still tired from using your magic?"

"We've had this discussion already."

"Aw c'mon Regina, it's just one night."

"It will make it the third...? fourth…? time." Regina pointed out stacking another plate in the cupboard.

"Not in a row." Emma removed the washing up gloves. "And nothing bad happened, did it? The world didn't explode just because you stayed here?"

"Being alone bothers you that much?"

Emma shrugged, not wanting to admit how much. "I know you like your privacy…"

"That's probably why you've let me have so little of it recently."

"Just, maybe take my temperature before you go to make sure I'm definitely healed."

"Are you questioning my magic?"

"No, of course not. I can barely see the mark now."

"Healing takes a lot of energy. If you want I can finish the healing, but if you leave it alone it will fade on it's own."

"I believe you, but you used all your magic in the healing and I'm just worried that maybe you ran out of magic…"

"Get the thermometer, I'll check your temperature. Or would you prefer to go to the hospital and provide blood samples? The library may have some medical textbooks I could study to check them."

"Needles? No thanks. I'll get the thermometer. Is it still in the bedroom?"

Regina nodded as Emma went to get it. If she was anything like Henry she would know to switch on the lights and hold the thermometer against the light bulb. There were no hot drinks in the bedroom, but the alternative would be to pass the bathroom and hold the thermometer under the hot water until it reached 99o.

Regina opened the book in the magically re-teleported room. She knew that once she started reading she would forget that she was in Snow White's home. Emma was in her room, where Regina had made her stay all afternoon. The thermometer showed she had a temperature and, as she had explained, that meant she had to stay in bed until she was well again. She let Emma watch television as she prepared dinner, then she had played board games and card games with her, on top of the blankets, to keep her from getting bored. Now she finally had some time alone.

There was a knock on the magicked wall. Regina lay the book on her lap and waved a hand towards the wall to open the door. Emma stood in the doorway.

"What are you reading?" Emma asked, leaning against the wall.

"A book. Why aren't you in bed?"

"I can't sleep."

"Have you tried closing your eyes?"

"And counted sheep, controlled my breathing, etcetera etcetera."

"You only need one etcetera in a sentence." Regina corrected her.

"Just trying to make my point. So, is it a good book?"

"When I'm allowed to read it uninterrupted."

Emma crossed into the room towards the bed.

"Miss Swan this is my private space."

Emma paused. "I just wanted to the see book. Why won't you tell me about it? Is it a steamy romance novel that your embarrassed about?"

Regina picked the book up and held it out to her so she could see for herself.

"That's sounds interesting."

"You can borrow it when I've finished reading it."

"Why don't you read it to me now? Henry said you'd read to him when he got sick."

"He's a child. I'd read him children's books."

"And do the voices for the characters." Emma smiled. "He said you were really good. I think hearing your soothing voice would help me get to sleep."

"I'm not doing the voices. I did them for Henry so he could tell who was talking."

"I wouldn't ask you to."

"And I'm not going back to the beginning of the book, I want to see what happens next."

"Just give me a brief overview. It doesn't matter if I can't follow it, like I said just hearing another voice talking to me helps me get to sleep."

"Go back to your room, I'll follow and bring a blanket for the chair."

"It's warmer down here, you've got that fireplace – is that burning real wood?"

"I'm using magic to filter out the smoke and the smell. Back home I had a fireplace in my room, the ones in the mayoral mansion are just for decoration."

"That is so cool. So can I sleep down here?"

"I don't think it's appropriate…"

"You'd be uncomfortable sharing a bed with me? You did it before."

"Correction, I waited until you were asleep then returned to the chair."

"Come on Regina, it's not a big deal."

"I said no Miss Swan."

"But…"

"Do you want me to read to you or not?"

"What if I stay down here until I fall asleep then you use magic to return me to my room?"

"I'm tired…"

"Please."

Regina rolled her eyes. "Fine. Just hurry up. You'd better keep quiet and try to go to sleep as quickly as possible."

"Promise."

Emma climbed onto the bed and Regina shifted over to put more room between them. She quickly caught Emma up to the events so far in the book and began reading out loud from the page she was on. Emma closed her eyes and allowed Regina's voice to wash through her mind as she waited to fall asleep.


	9. Boundaries

**AN: If the flashback had been longer I was going to try splitting this into two chapters, and I also couldn't figure out how to split up the non-flashback part. So here it is, one of my longest chapters ever. I hope you like it…. :)**

Flashback:

_With his death, Daniel's body fell to the ground. When she finally had her arms around him, Regina still couldn't believe that he was gone. His body didn't feel real, didn't feel like Daniel. She looked up at her mother, not caring that her tears were showing her to be weak. Later she would look at her mother and feel nothing but hatred. Now she was only feeling the loss of the man she loved and her grief took away her strength._

_"Foolish girl." Cora told her, brushing the grey dust from her white gloves as though it was nothing more than ordinary house dust. "To think that you could ever marry a stable boy. You are worth more than him Regina. I brought you up to know that. Your actions caused his death, remember that. Now we will have to hire a new stable boy."_

_"You killed him." Regina could only repeat the words as she gazed back down at Daniel's face._

_"Get up and come inside the house. I must remove the body before someone comes and finds it." _

_"No! Don't you dare touch him again."_

_Cora rolled her eyes. "He's dead. Don't be silly. Go to your room and change out of those peasant clothes. What if somebody saw you?"_

_"I don't care."_

_"It's getting late Regina and I will not stand in this stable all night debating this with you."_

_"Then go."_

_"You will show me some respect, daughter." Then Cora's tone softened as she looked down at her. "After all you cannot remain here."_

_"Just leave me alone. Leave us alone."_

_"He isn't going to wake up. No magic in the world can save him now."_

_Regina didn't answer. Bored now that her work was done and she knew Regina would have to follow her plans to marry the king, Cora left the stable. She would send Henry down later on an errand. He could "find" the boy and it would look like a natural death, perhaps an illness he had been unaware of. She would even allow Regina to attend a small funeral for him, as an act of closure. _

_Alone in the stable with Daniel, Regina pressed her face into his hair and cried. The horses around her covered the sound with their own noises and eventually she fell asleep, still holding him tightly in her arms._

At first she though the weight on her shoulder was just a part of her dream. Then Regina opened her eyes and looked down at the golden blonde locks spreading across her. She forgot how to breathe. Was Emma awake?

Regina edged gently away from Emma and scrambled out of the bed. She forgot she had her magic and grabbed her dressing gown, putting it on as she ran from the room. In the bathroom she heaved and threw up over the sink, until she felt too dizzy to continue. She gripped the edge of the sink, refusing to look up at her reflection in the mirror and eventually felt well enough to splash some cold water on her face. Turning the tap on and cupping her hands underneath, she rinsed out her mouth and tried swallowing some of the water.

"Are you okay?" Emma asked from the doorway as Regina stepped away from the sink.

"God, Emma." Regina said jumping at the sound of her voice. "Don't sneak up on me like that."

"Sorry. I heard… I thought I should check on you, in case you wanted me to hold your hair or something. Not that your hair is long enough… anyway. Is this a delayed reaction from the healing thing or are you coming down with something?"

Regina grabbed a towel and wiped at her mouth. "I'm fine."

"Do you need anything?"

"I just need to go home. I'm not a babysitter, I shouldn't have stayed last night."

"Hey, I thought we were becoming friends."

Regina wanted to laugh. How was she supposed to explain? She couldn't, of course. Emma didn't want to hear about her life. How could she sympathise with her mother's enemy?

"Just…" Regina took a deep breath.

Emma reached out but Regina took a step backwards and threw the towel into the laundry hamper.

"We can't keep doing this."

"Look, I thought you were going to magic me back to my room once I fell asleep. I'm sorry if you're upset…"

"I told you I was tired, I fell asleep too. I shouldn't have allowed it to happen. You should have just gone to your room when I asked." Regina snapped.

"You didn't have a problem sharing your bed with Graham." Emma retorted. "I'm sorry that you were stuck with me but don't worry, I won't ask you again."

"I guess I'm just more particular with who I allow in my bed."

"Enough that you throw up in the morning?"

"I don't have to explain anything to you."

"You're right, you don't. But you clearly need to talk to someone and Archie isn't available at the moment."

"There's nothing you can do to help me and it's time for me to go home."

"Stop running away from your problems."

"That's something you would know all about. Remember, I know all about your past."

"Then maybe I should take another look at Henry's book to find out about yours."

"That fairy tale… ha!"

"So tell me."

"Fine." Regina stormed towards Emma and backed her up into the bedroom. "You want to know the truth, I'll tell you. Where shall I start?"

Emma tripped over the side of the bed and sat down hard. Regina stopped walking and glared at her. Emma just sat there silently, waiting.

"You know about Daniel… and your mother…."

Emma nodded.

"The night he died, my mother left me alone with him. I held his body until I fell asleep. When I woke up in the morning, I thought it was all a nightmare, but when I turned over and saw his face, felt how cold his body was… and he was just lying there. Dead…"

Regina raised a hand to her mouth and swallowed, her stomach still churning as she forced herself to continue.

"Since then I have never allowed myself to fall asleep knowing someone else would be there when I woke. It reminds me of waking next to Daniel. One minute we had our whole lives ahead of us. The next, he was gone. I'll never see his face again, or hear his laugh. He'll never tell me how much he loves me. Never remind me that everything will look brighter in the morning. We'll never hold hands, or stare at a rainbow and wish on a shooting star." Regina shrugged and crossed her arms across her chest, holding her elbows in her hands. "When I woke that morning, I waited to hear him tell me that everything would be alright. That's when I knew it would never be. Waking up next to someone should make you happy. Fill you with hope and love. I can never have what I had with Daniel again. Even when I was married, the King and I had separate bedrooms – not that he complained, he still loved his first wife. That's why I always made Graham leave, not because I didn't want Henry to see him in the morning, though he could have snuck out once Henry had left for school..."

Emma stood up. "Regina…"

"Save it. I don't want your pity or your attempts to… do whatever you think you should. I'm stronger now. I may hate my mother for what she did, but at least she made me strong enough to face everything I've gone through."

Regina waved her hand and the room disappeared, revealing the original furniture.

"If you ever tell anyone what I just told you, Henry or no Henry, you will see what happens when someone crosses the Queen."

Regina vanished in a puff of purple smoke before Emma could reply.


End file.
